SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT
Server Application Profile: High-speed signaling or image detection is frequently deployed in extreme rugged settings. For example, sensor arrays such as biometric, thermal, motion or radar are found onboard vehicles or helicopters, and perform by returning data back to the networked server also onboard the vehicle or aircraft. A switch-stacked profile is optimized for reliable performance here. A rugged switch option is added to the pre-tested COMs-based system, connecting sensors and devices such as IP cameras to a central server solution. Such a system may also add an application on top of the network server capability, used to evaluate data, communicate information or deliver essential command alerts.
Simplifying Using Flexible, Rugged Systems
Figure 2 Aircraft avionics systems are an example of where SWaP (Size, Weight and Power) concerns remain a priority. There is continuous demand for more functionality and performance in smaller packages to fit into the same system footprint.
Balancing Design with Application Needs Designers must balance latencies and overall signal processing speed in order to determine which profile offers ideal performance. For example, it may not be permissible to allow greater compression time to transmit analog data from a camera to an onboard network. Milliseconds matter in certain applications such as situational awareness, driving a design choice between a dedicated hardware solution or network-based system. Low latency requirements may demand a dedicated video or data acquisition profile; such systems are optimized for efficiently handling of specific tasks through special algorithms versus a server profile designed for more generic processing performance. Even though the server profile offers high performance data collection and storage, its performance is directly related to the limitations of
its connected devices. Servers can play an effective role in data offloading and management, by virtue of using two channels to route data. One channel can be reserved to execute specific functions related to certain types of data, such as delivering critical information to a command and control application; a second channel may route less critical information back to the server for offloading or future data analysis. Several pre-validated systems can also work together to address a larger set of performance requirements, for example connecting systems based on the situational awareness profile and the server profile. The same systems can also be configured to act as sensors, handled easily by adding an XMC signaling card and then networking the system back to the server profile.
Military embedded design is characterized by continually increasing demand for functionality and performance in smaller packages—yet many military computing environments have no option to expand system footprint in order to make room for increased power or performance. SWaP (Size, Weight and Power) concerns remain a priority, as mobile deployments are expanding and include challenging requirements for applications such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), vetronics and avionics systems (Figure 2). At the same time, designers must address the need for reliability and maintain a strategic design path to accommodate inevitable future upgrades in the same small space. Pre-integrated and application ready systems address these needs, and present developers with a highly effective starting point for complex designs. Using tested and proven small form factor systems based on proven COMs, developers can quickly meet today’s proof-of-concept and prototype design needs by adding their own application-specific software, and testing functionality that won’t lead to extensive costs or extended development timelines. Capitalizing on a trusted COTS design environment helps designers simplify and accelerate small form factor application deployments through the use of standards-based building blocks. Kontron Poway, CA. (888) 294-4558 www.kontron.com
Pre-integration Enhanced by mPCIe Technology Pre-integrated systems based on COMs enable a design strategy with a critical advantage for advanced video applications such as surveillance for situational awareness. The mPCIe mezzanine card for example offers a very small form factor in an offthe-shelf, standards-based card; using mPCIe, designers can access specialized I/O such as video encoding, ARINC 429 or MILSTD-1553 or more common wireless specifications like Wi-Fi, GSM or LTE. Systems can remain deployed longer and have a more flexible product lifecycle when this type of functionality is embedded in the mezzanine rather than in a custom-designed board. In this design scenario, ruggedized, thermal performance is validated at the board level from -40° to +85°C; all I/O from the baseboard relies on a proven rugged connector, while all external I/O employs a 38999 type MIL circular connector. System performance can evolve by swapping out modules to access processor advancements; by reusing proven designs in smaller systems, OEMs can easily extend functionality while avoiding additional customization costs and development resources. Developers avoid requalification of the design, while the system’s baseboard stack provides all necessary interconnects for the COM Express board and XMC and mPCIe interfaces.
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COTS Journal | November 2014